Put in Bay Road Trip -

I know that I already shared pictures and posts about our recent trip to Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay BUT not in a fun Road Trip style like this. If you are from Ohio or going to be in Northwest Ohio then you should really check this out!

Originally I had planned on stopping in Findlay, OH at the McDonald’s that has an outdoor PlaySpace BUT the weather was cold and very wet! With that plan shot out of the water we stopped in Lima to go through 3 different drive-thrus in order to get the food everyone wanted and get potty breaks, lol.

Princess has been learning to give Eldest his insulin for Type 1 Diabetes via the pen needles which helps tremendously when traveling. Once the carbs are calculated and the bolus and correction are figured out she can given him insulin. We are never in a moving vehicle when checking BG or dosing insulin. This gives Eldest the freedom to stay the night at grandma’s without having to does himself each and every time. She has been really good about this and she isn’t even 11!

Day 1 Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Home and Museum (Fremont, OH)

I wanted to find a good reason to stop and stretch our legs on the way to Sandusky and what better way then to visit a piece of history. I don’t remember learning very much about the Ohio born Presidents but want my children to learn with me. I also want them to have the desire to learn more as we travel around the state.

Dinner at Dianna’s Deli and Restaurant (Port Clinton, OH) which came highly recommended from Sherryl of Simply Sherryl. The variety of homestyle food choices and the prices were really good. The staff was extremely friendly and very efficient.

Day 2 Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers (Sandusky, OH)

Purchased 2 All Day Meal Tickets and 1 Souvenir Cup which got free refills all day. I set phone alarm to go off every 90 minutes to get 2 more meals. We ended up getting 4 sets of meals but could have easily gotten 5 if I had realized the kids were going to stay at Cedar Point for 10 hours to ride rides without taking a break. Very long day for Lil’ Red since there weren’t many rides he could ride even with an adult. He isn’t 2 years old or the required 36” in height. You can read more details in our post about Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers.

Day 3 Marblehead Lighthouse State Park, Miller Ferry, and Mr. Ed’s

I had forgotten the papers that were printed with directions to the Marblehead Lighthouse from Cedar Point but with a little Google Navigation help on our Moto X phones we got there. We let the kids jump on the rocks and take potty breaks before heading to the actual light house. I didn’t realize that the museum and lighthouse were only open till 4pm. I took Lil’ Red to change his diaper and missed going up into the lighthouse. The docent gave me the $2 back since there wasn’t time for the people coming down the lighthouse to be off the 77 steps so I could go up.

I went into the museum and took lots of pictures to share with my family and readers about lighthouse history. I shared an entire post about our visit to the Marblehead Lighthouse for you to read.

We arrived at Miller Ferry on Catawba Island right before it was time to board the ferry. Once the ferry left the dock we got out of our van to explore the boat. Everyone had fun riding over to South Bass Island and no one got sick or scared! It was super fun being able to see across Lake Erie to our destination: Put-in-Bay!

Our first night on South Bass Island was spent exploring the area via van just to get a feel for how far away everything was from our accommodations. Of course this gave us some time to browse the souvenir shops and play at the park downtown.

We ate dinner at Mr. Ed’s Bar & Grill Discount and it was definitely intended for the collage or adult crowd. They had kids meals but no real sides just chips. This was a common trend we found on vacation which is a shame since there’s not a bunch of stores on South Bass Island.

Day 4 Condos & Island Club Golf Cart, Perry’s Cave Family Fun Center, Beachcombing (South Bass Island)

I got in the van and took a drive in the morning to get some breakfast for myself. I forgot the fixings for my coffee so I headed to the Chocolate Cafe for latte and some muffins. They also had a small area that was a Chocolate Museum that offered some unique memorabilia related to the history of chocolate.

Once everyone was awake we decided to drive the golf cart provided by Put In Bay Condos via Island Club to Perry’s Cave and Family Fun Center. We decided to head inside for the Cave tour first thing. It was a decent little tour filled with history and not too tight, dark or scary. All of our family had fun and enjoyed the cool cave which remains 50 degrees year round. We did the Amazin’ Fun maze which took over 45 minutes to find all the checkpoints. This caused quite a bit of frustration for my crew who could get in and out quickly but was very challenged in finding all the checkpoints. We ended up helping each other out so everyone could get all the punches to spell MAZE.

We ate lunch at Dan Dee’s Snack Shack. They had pretty good prices and typical concession food. A few things on the menu that were different were fried mac ‘n cheese, veggie pot stickers and salmon burgers.

Day 5 Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial and African Wildlife Safari (Port Clinton, OH)

It was our last day on South Bass Island and wanted to catch a few more places before boarding the Miller Ferry and heading home. Since we love Junior Ranger programs we stopped into Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial national park. The museum area was filled with informative posters and display boards. Princess set to work on filling in her Junior Ranger guidebook!

African Wildlife Safari – the kids enjoyed feeding the animals from the car windows. They offer camel rides and the first one’s free. As we walked around the area it was feeding time and the person feeding the animals took time to talk to us about the animals.